Ellie and Elsa
by LittleMissD94
Summary: Ellie is a little girl who bears a striking resemblance to Elsa. Not only in appearance but she has ice powers as well. This story tells the tale of what happens after Ellie escapes the attic she's been locked up in all of her life and she and Elsa find out that they're not alone in the world after all.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N After reading fan fics for some time now I decided to write one myself. This is my first story ever so please bear with me ;)**

Far away from the castle at the border of Arrendelle lay a little orphanage. It looked quite idyllic being surrounded by flowers and children playing in the backyard. From the outside it seemed like a very happy place. The orphanage held a secret though. In the attic where no orphans ever came, lived an eight-year-old girl. Her name was Eleanor, Ellie for short. She was an orphan, at least she thought so, just like the other girls. Except the other girls weren't locked up in an attic for all of their lives…

Then again the other girls didn't need to be locked up because they'd never hurt anybody. Ellie did hurt people although not intentionally. It was just that whenever she got mad or sad or just panicked, and that happened a lot, ice would start to form around her fingertips and the air would just get colder. Most of the time when she finally calmed down she'd had already frozen the entire attic.

In the mornings when Ellie was alone in her attic it was okay though. It was cold and there was a layer of ice on the ground but that was it. It was always when the owner of the orphanage came to see her that things would get out of hand. Today the owner of the orphanage miss Greta came to see her an hour before dinner. As soon as she walked through the door she started yelling at Ellie who sat curled up in a ball in the corner bracing herself thinking: conceal, conceal, don't feel!

'You're worthless! You know that right? A freak of nature that's what you are', yelled Greta. With every word Greta said the air grew a bit colder and more ice started to creep up on the walls.

Though it was nothing Ellie hadn't heard before it still got to her every time Greta said it. But Ellie also knew that the worst part of the daily speech was yet to come. Greta walked over to the corner where Ellie sat and started what Ellie called 'the monster part'. Greta laughed at the girl in the corner who was desperately trying to stop the ice from creeping further up the wall. 'Ha I see you still can't control it. You're a monster and a freak! You're so pathetic. You are so scared of me while should be thankful because I am the only person brave enough to come near you.' With that Greta was done, left the attic and locked the door behind her.

Ellie hated these daily visits from Greta. The yelling itself wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that Greta was right. When alone in the attic Ellie could sometimes almost convince herself that she wasn't all that bad. That she could learn to control her powers someday. But when Greta came and started her speech Ellie couldn't help but believe her. Believe she was a monster with or without her curse. That she just scared people and that it was best that she was locked up. The piles of snow and the ice on the ceiling that had formed during Greta's speech just confirmed that believe.

Still in her corner Ellie sat there thinking with her head in her gloved hands. She suddenly stood up and started pacing around the room. It felt like anger, sadness and loneliness were having a war inside her heart. It was unfair. Why did she have to bear this curse? Why wasn't there a way to control it? The gloves helped a bit in the beginning but the curse kept growing stronger while she got older. While being angry a blizzard picked up and the attic started to grow colder than it ever had been before. Though after a while Ellie decided that she didn't have the right to be angry. She was a worthless human being after all. She deserved what she got. With the anger gone Ellie stopped pacing and the blizzard died down.

In her heart sadness and loneliness filled the space that anger had left. She was alone in the world. Not just because she had no one who cared about her or because of her powers but in terms of appearance as well. When she would sometimes look outside of her window to see the other orphans play she'd always look down on dark haired heads and an occasional redhead. Ellie's hair was white as snow, though she preferred the term platinum blonde. This just made her realize all the more that there truly was no one like her.

Ellie let the tears fall from her icy blue eyes though they turned into tiny ice crystals before they hit the ground. She walked to the door and sat down on the floor to lean her back against the door. But instead of staying firmly locked and in place like always the door swung open and Ellie fell backwards. Ellie scrambled to her feet as fast as she could and stared down the hall in awe. How did this happen? In her fit of anger she must have weakened the lock somehow. Ellie contemplated her next move. This was her chance to get out of the attic. 'But there's a reason you're in here. There's a reason that you're being kept away form people. You can't even touch people without freezing them!' a little voice in the back of her mind said. But, Ellie argued with herself, she didn't have to meet other people. She'd just find a place where she could be alone. Where she couldn't hurt anyone but where no one could yell at her either. That's when she decided that she would leave.

She took her first step over the threshold very carefully. She got to the stairs without making a sound. She slowly made her way down the stairs careful not to make the steps creak. When she got to the bottom of the stairs she realized that she had arrived at probably the hardest part of her escape. In order to get to the door she had to pass the entrance to the common room. It would be a challenge to pass the entrance without being seen by any of the playing girls inside. Deciding there was no time like the present Ellie gathered her courage and tried to sneak past the entrance. Luck was not on her side though, because just when she came into full view of the girls in the common room the floorboard she stepped on creaked loudly. Ellie froze dead in her spot when one of the girls inside looked up and asked: 'Miss Greta, who's that?' Miss Greta who turned red of anger at the sight of Ellie, started to run towards her. Ellie came out of her frozen state as soon as she saw Greta coming at her. She bolted towards the door, threw it open and ran. Greta immediately ran after her screaming at her to stop right this instant.

After running mile after mile Ellie finally slowed down. She suddenly realized that the screaming and running behind her had stopped a long time ago. That was also when she realized that in a sense she was free. Although not free from her curse, she was free to do whatever she wanted without being yelled or screamed at. On that day for the first time in forever a smile settled on Ellie's face.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After three days of running Ellie had discovered a tiny flaw in her plan. Avoiding people made it very hard to get food. She had only been eating a few berries in the past three days. She was just so hungry that she didn't see any other option than to enter a village to get something to eat. But in order to do that she first had to find a way out of the forest she had been hiding in.

It took Ellie the entire day to get to the edge of the large forest. When she finally got out of the forest it was already getting dark outside. Though she could see a village lying in the distance the shops were probably already closed. Sighing Ellie decided to make her way to the village anyway and find a place to sleep there so she could get something to eat first thing in the morning.

Really tired and very hungry Ellie walked through what she thought were the village gates. She was too tired to walk any further so she rested her back against the large stone wall that surrounded the village. As soon as she closed her eyelids Ellie fell asleep.

Princess Anna of Arrendelle wandered outside the castle towards the castles gates. It was something she did every evening after dinner. She had made it her personal task to check if the gates were still open before she went to bed and that they were still open when she woke up. It wasn't that she didn't trust the guards or anything it was just some sort of ritual that she had developed after the great thaw. She had been doing it for four years now.

While making her way towards the gates Anna thought of everything that had changed since Elsa thawed the kingdom. She and Kristoff had gotten married a few months ago. The gates were always open and so was Elsa's door.

Suddenly Anna toppled to the ground. While being lost in thought she didn't see whatever it was that was laying against the wall next to the castle gate. Anna got up from the ground and straightened her dress. When she turned around to see what she had tripped over she was shocked to find out it wasn't a what, it was a who. She quickly made her way to the little girl that had caused her fall.

'Are you okay?' Anna asked concerned. When Anna reached over to the girl to touch her shoulder for comfort, the girl jerked away. 'Yeah I'm alright', the girl whispered softly. It was then that Anna really looked at the girl in front of her. For a few seconds Anna was too shocked to say anything. The girl was the spitting image of Elsa. Not the twenty-five-year-old Elsa who was probably finishing her paperwork in her study right now but the eight-year-old Elsa who Anna had built numerous snowmen with in the ballroom when they were kids. The girl had the same colour of platinum blonde hair and the same ice blue eyes as Elsa.

The resemblance was so striking that Anna couldn't help but stammer, 'E- Elsie?'

The looked at her with a confused expression on her face before replying, 'No it's Ellie.'

Anna mentally kicked herself for her stupid reaction. Of course this girl wasn't Elsa. The girl just looked like her. Though it was probably ridiculous but somehow Anna had always thought that Elsa was the only one to have platinum blonde hair and ice blue eyes.

Having gotten over the initial shock of seeing a girl that could have been Elsa's twin if they had been the same age, Anna looked at the girl, Ellie, again and realised that the she looked very tired.

'What are you doing here all alone? Where are your parents? Anna asked her.

'I don't have any parents, I grew up in an orphanage but I ran away', Ellie answered her.

'Why did you run away, did they treat you badly?'

Ellie just nodded not daring to admit the real reason why she had run away.

Anna moved forward to give the girl a hug for reassurance but Ellie flinched away again. Anna was curious as to what exactly they did in that orphanage to make this girl so afraid of touch. She wasn't going to ask though. Whatever it was that they did it was bad enough to make Ellie run away and by the looks of it she had been running for more multiple days too.

'I'm Anna by the way. I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come inside with me? You could stay the night at the castle', Anna offered.

Ellie hesitated; so far Anna had been very nice to her but what if she lost control over her power. Anna being so nice would only make it worse if she accidently hurt her.

Anna saw Ellie's hesitation but she couldn't let Ellie stay outside on her own and besides she really wanted to see Elsa's reaction when she'd see Ellie. Anna smiled at Ellie and made the offer more appealing by adding food to it.

'Aren't you hungry then? We have plenty of left-overs from our meal, we even have chocolate left from the desert!'

At the mention of food Ellie's stomach growled vehemently. She just couldn't refuse Anna's offer anymore. She decided to throw her plan of avoiding people out of the window for the night. One night couldn't hurt, she thought, she'd sneak away first thing in the morning.

'Okay', she told Anna.

'Yes!' Anna shouted startling Ellie but Anna simply couldn't contain her excitement of getting Ellie to come inside. 'Come on then', Anna told Ellie while she began to make her way towards the castle.

Ellie followed, still a bit worried about how she was going to hide her powers from Anna though Anna's chattering about reindeers and someone named Kristoff made her forget that worry quite soon. The fact that someone had actually invited her into their home while all the people Ellie had met so far had only tried to keep her as far away as possible, made Ellie even feel a bit warm. Warmer then she had ever felt.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ellie walked next to Anna as they were heading down the hallway on their way to Anna's sister Elsa. Who as Ellie had just learned was the Queen of Arrendelle. That was a fact that made Ellie quite nervous about meeting her. Though Anna was a royal too and she wasn't scary so maybe Elsa would be okay too.

Anna had been telling all about the royal family during dinner. From how her parents died to how she met her husband Kristoff while they were searching for Elsa who had fled the kingdom. Ellie wondered why Elsa had fled though. She couldn't understand why someone would flee such a beautiful place as this castle. Everything seemed great to Ellie, the ballroom was beautiful and the food was amazing. Speaking about food, Ellie had never seen so much food in her entire life as she did at this particular dinner. In the orphanage Ellie had to eat whatever Greta brought her so she was ecstatic to see that she was given a choice at what to eat.

To her great relief the dinner itself had gone well too. She had frosted over the silverware a couple of times but luckily neither the kitchen staff nor Anna had noticed.

In the meantime they had arrived of what probably was the door of Elsa's study. Anna looked down at her and said, 'I'm going to knock and go in first to explain who you are okay. Don't be scared she'll like you.' Ellie nodded though still feeling nervous.

Elsa was in her study finishing her paperwork. Or rather she was procrastinating finishing her paperwork. Instead of working she was busy making little ice sculptures of her family. Normally she would just make ice sculptures of random things, the castle, a snowflake or a tree, but not today. It wasn't a coincidence that today the sculptures were ice replicas of her family.

She just came back from a meeting with her council. Instead of talking about important political problems like for instance the tension between Arrendelle and Weselton , they had been bothering her about suitors again. One of the council members had noticed her being annoyed with the subject and had dared to say that they had brought it up because they cared about her.

Elsa very well knew they didn't care about her at all, not really anyway. They cared about her as the Queen of Arrendelle but not as Elsa. And as Queen of Arrendelle she had to produce an heir and that was exactly where the problem lay.

It wasn't that Elsa didn't want a family of her own; she wanted that more than anything. In the past few years Elsa had gotten accustomed to not being alone. But Anna and Kristoff had gotten married a few months ago and it probably wouldn't take too long before they started a family of their own. That would mean that the free time Anna now spent with her she would spend with her children. They'd maybe even move out of the castle to get some more privacy. Anyway it would mean that Elsa would be alone again just like before.

Having a husband and a child of her own would help with that problem but Elsa just knew that could never happen. Not the child part anyway. Though with her acceptance of her powers after the great thaw Elsa's control over them had grown, the powers still got the better of her sometimes. She knew for a fact that the words Grand Pabby spoke years ago were true. She could see that there was beauty in her powers now but she also knew there still was a danger to them as well; even with the control she had now.

What if she got scared, angry or she would just panic for whatever reason, and all of that was bound to happen with a child, so much that she would accidently freeze the child. How could you explain to a kid that it had to perform an act of true love to save itself? It was one thing for her to have to carry the burden that her power could be but she couldn't place that burden on her child.

It wasn't just the lack of family that made her feel alone sometimes though. It was the lack of having someone who truly understood her. Of course Anna knew her better than anyone and tried to help her with her powers as well she possibly could but there was nobody who truly knew how the storm inside her heart felt when she fought for control over her powers or how free she felt when she could let them go. In the sorrow as well as the joy of her powers she was truly alone.

Her train of thought suddenly came to an end when she heard the rhythm of Anna's signature knock. Not even waiting for an answer Anna walked in.

'What is it?' Elsa asked.

'I met this little girl today, well actually we didn't exactly 'meet', but anyway she ran away from her orphanage where they treated her badly. I don't know why though because she is such a sweet little girl. Anyway I was wondering if she could stay here if only just for tonight? She has nowhere else to go', Anna finished her monologue all in one breath.

Elsa smiled at her sister always helping those in need. 'Sure', she answered, 'and I take it she is waiting outside the door?'

'Yup, ooh and by the way Elsa I didn't tell her that you have powers 'cause she didn't seem to know and I didn't want to you know scare her or anything. She seemed scared enough already when I first saw her. I hope that's okay with you?'

'Yes of course that's okay', Elsa said. It sounded like the girl had had a rough life so far and she didn't want to make the girl more afraid than she already was.

With that Anna turned and left to get Ellie. The girl she returned with was nothing like Elsa had ever seen before. It was like she was looking in a mirror but instead of seeing her regular reflection she saw a younger her. The eight-year-old her that had hit Anna in the head. She had always thought she was the only one to have platinum blonde hair and ice blue eyes. She had never seen anyone with those features before. For the first few seconds she was just too shocked to speak and apparently the girl was as well.

Ellie was indeed very shocked too. The woman in front of her was the by far the prettiest woman Ellie had ever seen. Though her beauty wasn't what made Ellie so at a loss for words; it was the shiny platinum blonde hair and the eyes. They were all just like hers! Ellie figured that she probably wasn't the only one thinking that she was the only one with these features as the queen had an expression on her face that probably mirrored her own.

'Elsa this is Ellie', Anna broke the silence.

Elsa Ellie, Ellie Elsa.'

'Hi', Elsa whispered.

'Hi', whispered Ellie as well.

Elsa mind flowed over with question she wanted to ask Ellie. Was she from Arrendelle? Did she know anything about her birth family? Ellie herself had a lot of question to ask Elsa too. All those questions had to wait till tomorrow though. The girl looked very tired and it was getting late. Besides for now just knowing that there was someone else who they shared something with in which they thought they were the only one, was enough to make them feel a little less alone.


	4. Chapter 4

Anna and Elsa had decided that Ellie would sleep in Elsa's room for the night. Well decided, it was more like Anna asking Elsa if Ellie could stay with her because it was Kristoff's first night back from the mountains and then leaving before Elsa could say no.

Because Elsa had little to none experience with kids she had been quite scared of messing this up. Everything went well though. They had asked the staff to move Anna's old bed to Elsa's room so Ellie could sleep there. The girl fell asleep as soon as she hit her pillow.

Before Elsa went to bed herself she stood by Ellie's bed looking down on her sleeping form. She was such a sweet little girl, Elsa thought. How could anyone hurt her? Right then she swore to herself that she would do anything to find a loving family for Ellie that would adopt her as their own.

It was just beginning to dawn outside when Ellie shot right up in her bed. She could just manage to keep in a scream. She had had a nightmare, a very vivid one, of being back in the attic, locked up with Greta screaming at her again. When she looked around she realized she wasn't in the attic like she had been in her nightmare but in Elsa's room. Ellie slowly breathed a sigh of relief. That relief was short lived though when she saw the state the room was in. Frost covered the walls and the ceiling and on the floor was a thick layer of ice. Oh no, Ellie thought, what have I done? She quickly glanced over to her left where she saw that Elsa was still asleep. What would Elsa think of her when she woke up and saw that her room was transformed in a Winter Wonderland? The answer was obvious to Ellie: Elsa would cast her out and tell her to never show her face again in Arendelle. Ellie wasn't going to wait for that though. She would go herself and this time she would really find a place with no people.

She slowly and carefully slid out of bed and made her way towards the door so she wouldn't wake up Elsa. When she tried to open the door, it wouldn't open. Panic rose inside Ellie's chest. She had caused the door to freeze shut. She frantically glanced around the room to look for another way out but there wasn't. She was locked in. Crying, she made her way to the corner and curled herself up in a ball waiting for Elsa's verdict when she would wake up.

Elsa did wake up not long after Ellie had positioned herself in the corner. She had never been a morning person but when she saw the state her room was in, she really wanted to go back to sleep. Her entire room was covered in ice and little piles of snow covered the floor. True when she was younger her room used to look like this all the time but the last few years the room hadn't been covered in anything more than just a little layer of frost. The only times when her room did look like this, was when she had severe nightmares. Though Elsa didn't remember having any nightmares last night. In fact she had had a rather pleasant dream about her and Anna building snowmen.

Elsa decided that she'd thaw her room after she got dressed and woke Ellie up. Wait! Elsa thought, Ellie didn't know about her powers. The poor kid would be so scared when she saw the state the room was in. Elsa quickly turned around to look at Ellie's bed. Instead of finding a sleeping Ellie there, the covers were pulled back and the bed was empty. Elsa quickly scanned the room for any trace of Ellie until her eyes rested upon the little girls figure curled up in a ball in the corner.

Ellie saw Elsa slowly approaching her. She felt her powers wanting to burst out of her but somehow she managed to rein them in. Ellie decided it probably was best to just confess to Elsa what had happened.

'I- I'm so sorry', Ellie whimpered not daring to look up to Elsa. 'I didn't mean to, it was an accident. The nightmare was so scary and when I woke up the room was all covered in ice. I tried to leave before it got worse but the door was frozen shut.'

Elsa couldn't believe what she was hearing. She expected Ellie to be scared but the girl wasn't scared of Elsa she seemed scared of herself believing she did this.

'Oh honey, you didn't do this', Elsa tried to calm the girl down.

'Yes, I did', Ellie cried still not daring to look at Elsa. 'This is why they treated me badly in the orphanage. They locked me up in the attic so I couldn't hurt anybody with my ice. I'm cursed because… I'm a monster.' She whispered the last part very quietly. She buried her head in her hands once more waiting for Elsa to say something.

'You did this…' Elsa said with wonder in her voice. Realization slowly dawned on her that for once she wasn't the cause of all this ice and frost in her room.

Ellie, who totally missed out on the wonder in Elsa's voice, was still waiting for Elsa to cast her out. It was agony to wait for the rejection that would obviously follow. While waiting, Ellie felt fear building up inside of her. In an attempt to keep her powers inside of her she started to chant her mantra.

'Conceal, don't feel', Ellie kept repeating, first inside her head but out loud now as well.

This didn't go unnoticed by Elsa who by now had gotten over the initial shock of discovering that there possibly was something with the same powers as herself.

'Ellie, stop, please stop', Elsa pleaded with the girl. 'It's not going to work you know.'

Ellie finally looked up at Elsa relaxing a little when she saw that somehow Elsa wasn't mad or repulsed by her. She still didn't expect the words that came next though.

'Ellie, could you please show me?'

No one had ever asked Ellie to showcase her powers. Everybody was always so desperate to keep as far away form Ellie and her powers as possible.

'You really want me to show you?'

'Yes please.'

Ellie stood up and with shaking hands she slowly removed her gloves. Moving her hands in a circular motion a snowball formed on her hand.

Elsa couldn't believe her eyes. Though she did believe Ellie when she told her about being locked up in the attic because of her powers, it still was another thing to see with her own eyes that there really was someone like her.

When Elsa didn't say anything and just stared at her Ellie felt the fear building up again causing the room to snow a little. Ellie desperately clenched her fists trying to stop the snowing but she only made it worse.

Elsa quickly came out of her trance when she saw Ellie struggling. 'You can't control it when you're trying to conceal it. You have to let it go. Just breathe, Ellie, just relax.'

Ellie did what Elsa said and to her great surprise the snowing stopped.

Elsa took a step forward towards Ellie but Ellie instinctively took a step back and curled up in the corner again. Elsa was actually quite mad at herself right now for not seeing the signs sooner. The girl being afraid of touch, wanting to keep the gloves on even at night, should have made alarm bells going off in Elsa's head.

Elsa knelt in front of the girl. 'It's okay, I know how you feel, really. You're afraid of touch because you're afraid to freeze people. That's why you keep the gloves on at all times because they make it a little bit easier to keep your powers in. When they locked you up in that attic you tried to tell yourself it was for the best but you couldn't help but feeling like a prisoner. You tried so hard to control your powers because you couldn't help hoping that maybe if you gained control they would let you out some time. But the harder you tried to keep your powers in the worse they got.'

Ellie stared at her disbelievingly. How could Elsa possibly know all that?

'How did you…'

'… know that?', Elsa finsished. 'They locked me up too because of my powers. Watch…'

With that Elsa moved her hands elegantly through the air making a little snowman appear in her hand.

Ellie looked at Elsa in awe. Never in the whole world had she thought that there could be someone else like her.

When both the platinum blondes looked into each other's eyes they saw understanding in them. The understanding they had both yearned for their entire lives.

Elsa opened her arms for Ellie to hug her. Somehow she felt that they couldn't freeze each other, that they would be immune to each other's powers. Ellie knew it too because she ran from her corner into Elsa's arms for what would be her first hug.

They stayed entangled in each other's arms with tears sliding down their cheeks. For the first time Ellie's tears didn't crystallize before they hit the ground though. They weren't tears of sadness or anger but tears of joy. They were tears of joy because finally they weren't alone anymore. While they enjoyed their hug the room slowly thawed around them.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Anna had sat waiting at the breakfast table for her sister and Ellie. She felt a bit guilty for leaving her sister all alone with Ellie last night. It had been Kristoff's first night back from the mountains and she had really missed him. Besides it was just for one night, during the day Anna would take Ellie to play so Elsa could go to her meetings.

Anna's thoughts were disturbed by the sound of laughter coming from down the hall. Looking up, she saw her sister and Ellie turn the corner, walking towards her hand in hand. Anna's jaw dropped in awe. They looked so comfortable with each other. Ellie who had been scared of her own shadow last night now had a smile on her face. While she had flinched away form Anna's hugs yesterday, she was now holding Elsa's hand. How in the world did Elsa manage to get Ellie to trust her so soon? Her sister, who even after four years, was still a bit apprehensive of touch, was holding Ellie's hand like the possibility of freezing her wasn't there.

'Good morning', Elsa chimed cheerfully.

Though Elsa seemed extraordinary happy Anna thought she should apologize for last night just to be sure.

'I'm sorry for…' Anna started her apology.

'That's okay, everything went fine!' Elsa interrupted her.

'That's good to hear! So I thought maybe I could take Ellie to…'

'No need, I cleared my whole schedule today so we can go to the meadow were we used to picnic when we were little.'

Anna eyed her sister suspiciously. She had cleared her whole schedule?! That was really rare for Elsa to do… Anna knew that Elsa saw Arendelle as one of her top priorities so there had to be something special about this trip to the meadow.

After breakfast Ellie went off to help the servants bring the plates to the kitchen so Anna took her chance to talk to her sister about her uncanny behaviour of this morning.

'You seem so happy today', Anna commented.

'That's because I am happy.'

Anna couldn't keep it in anymore, she just had to know how Elsa had gotten Ellie to trust her so fast.

'How did you do it?

'How did I do what?'

'Get her to trust you, hold your hand? I tried to hug her last night but all she did was flinch away from my touch, while my hugs are famous for being the warmest and nicest hugs in Arendelle!' Anna exclaimed the last part.

'Aren't you…'Anna hesitated before continuing, 'Aren't you scared of freezing her?' She hated herself for having to bring this up but she just didn't want either Ellie or Elsa to get hurt.

'Because I can't, freeze her I mean.' Elsa answered still with a smile on her face.

Out of all the answers Anna had expected she never expected it to be this.

'What do you mean, you can't freeze her?'

'She's like me. Not just in appearance, she's like me in every way.'

'Do you mean she has… powers too?'

'Yes, she accidently froze my room last night. That's how I found out. Oh Anna, they did horrible things to her. They locked her up in an attic because of her powers. They made her think she was a monster. She even thought I'd banish her from the kingdom when I found out. She was curled up in a ball in the corner just so afraid to hurt anyone.'

That sounded an awful lot like someone Anna knew very well but she decided to let that go.

'Why do you think it is that you can't freeze her?'

'I don't know, I just felt it. I think it has something to do with not being able to get hurt by our own element or something. Just like I never feel cold.'

Anna guessed that made sense. She looked over at Ellie, who had re-entered the room, and looked at her with different eyes now. Now that she knew Ellie had powers too, the girl's actions from last night made a lot more sense as well. After all you had to have a very good reason to refuse the best hugs in Arendelle!

'Ellie', Elsa addressed the girl, 'Is it okay with you if Anna comes to watch our power practice too?'

So that's what they were going to do on that meadow.

'Sure', Ellie answered shyly.

'So Anna, do you…' Elsa started but before she could finish Anna had already let out a squeal of excitement. She loved watching Elsa use her magic so wouldn't miss watching Elsa teaching her mini-me for the world.

'I take it that's a yes', Elsa remarked sarcastically.

When the three of them arrived at the meadow Anna saw that it was indeed a good spot to practice magic. It was on the edge of the forest high on the hill with a view of Arendelle. It was a place where no one really came so it was perfectly safe to practice there.

'Remember what I told you', Anna heard her sister say to Ellie. 'Don't be scared, just let it go. You can't hurt anyone here. You already know you can't hurt me and Anna will stay at a safe distance.

Anna held her breath in amazement when she saw Ellie begin making movements with her hands. She started out quite uncertain but when Ellie saw the perfect little snowball that had formed in her hands, a smile spread on her face. Ellie's movements became more elegant while she started making random mini snow blizzards appear, much like Elsa had done when she had first let it go on the North Mountain.

Anna watched as her sister taught Ellie to stomp her foot on the ground to make ice appear. She would always be amazed at their ability to run on ice without slipping.

Anna looked at her sister and was amazed of how happy she looked. Her eyes shone with happiness and joy and so did Ellie's. Anna realized that this was probably the first time Elsa didn't have to hold back with her powers. With Ellie Elsa could just be herself in every aspect that was Elsa. She didn't have to explain or apologize anything related to her powers because Ellie knew.

It was the first time Anna saw her sister using her powers for fun without being the tiniest bit scared. Anna had seen her sister use them as a weapon, to help others by putting out fires and to bring joy to others by making skating rinks in the summer. But never had she seen Elsa like this, so at ease.

Normally Anna was the one to make Elsa happy. Her hugs never failed to bring a smile on her sister's face. The smile Elsa wore on her face now was a whole different smile though. It wasn't a better smile, just a different one, good different. Anna realized that Ellie coming into their lives meant that she wasn't the only one who could bring Elsa pure happiness anymore. She wasn't jealous though, as long as her sister was happy she would gladly share that ability with Ellie.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After another morning of power practice Ellie had skidded of to help Kristoff in the stables with Sven. Elsa smiled as she watched her go. That smile quickly disappeared when she thought of the task she had to do. It was a week ago that she had promised a sleeping Ellie that she would find a family for her. And that was exactly what she was going to do. She had asked her staff to make a selection of couples that could be possible parents for Ellie. Those couples had all come to the castle today, waiting to be interviewed by the queen.

Elsa had told Ellie of her plan a few days ago. Though she rather wanted to cry at the thought of having to lose Ellie so soon, she had kept up a happy façade when she had told her.

After a whole afternoon of interviews Anna and Elsa sat in Elsa's study. Anna had watched Elsa during the interviews with concern. It was a mystery to Anna why Elsa was still going on with these silly interviews. It was so obvious that Elsa didn't want to give Ellie up.

With a sigh Anna broke the silence. She had to make Elsa admit that she didn't want to give Ellie up and if Anna wasn't wrong Ellie didn't want to be given up either. Though the girl had smiled when Elsa had told her she'd find a family for her, the smile hadn't reached her eyes the way it normally did. It wasn't fair to the couples as well because Elsa had been blowing them off for ridiculous reasons.

'Seriously Elsa, you have to make a decision on this thing. I mean, there really were some very suitable couples among them. It's not fair to be leading them on like this. And come on, since when is living more than five miles away from a chocolate shop a valid reason for not letting people adopt!' Anna exclaimed, hoping Elsa would finally see that she was coming up with ridiculous reasons so she wouldn't have to let Ellie go just yet.

'You're right', Elsa sighed, 'that last couple, the Bergmans, seemed perfect. They don't live to far away so I can still visit. I'll tell them the good news tomorrow.' Her sister was right she thought. She couldn't be selfish in this matter. This time she'd do the right thing by keeping her promise.

Upon hearing her sister's answer, Anna fought the urge to do a face palm. This was precisely what she didn't want to hear. Instead of telling those couples to leave, Elsa was actually going to tell one of them to adopt Ellie. Before Anna could try to talk more sense into her sister she heard a sound coming form the direction of the doorway.

Both sisters turned around to see Ellie standing in the doorway with tears in her eyes. Ellie had gone to Elsa's study to ask if she could go into town with Kristoff, but when she arrived at the study she had overheard Elsa and Anna talking.

Ellie knew that Elsa was trying to find a family for her, Elsa had told her she would a few days ago. Though getting a family was something Ellie had dreamed of all her life, she couldn't help but feeling nothing else than sadness at the thought of leaving. She had smiled enthusiastically though when Elsa had told her. She didn't want to disappoint her.

Now that the day had come for Ellie to actually be adopted, she couldn't keep her happy face anymore. The tears started to fall and not knowing what to do, she ran.

Elsa and Anna saw Ellie standing in the doorway just a moment before they saw her run away. Elsa's first instinct was to run after her but Anna grabbed her arm.

'Just let her be, she won't go far. She's just upset, she'll come back on her own, trust me', Anna told her sister. 'We however need to talk. What I've been trying to tell you the whole time, is that you obviously don't want to give her up and I don't think she wants to be given up either.'

Elsa sat down in her chair behind her desk and rested her head in her hands. Tears started to leak out of her eyes.

'I know I don't want to give her up… but I can't be selfish. I have to it right this time.'

'You wanting to be happy does not make you selfish', Anna sighed at her stubborn sister. 'I've seen how you look when you practice your powers together. She makes you happy Elsa…'

'You make me happy too', Elsa protested weakly.

'I know that and I'll never forget that, but I can't make you smile the way she does. I'll never be able to understand you the way that she understands you.'

Elsa knew that Anna was right. Ellie did make her happy. Anna wasn't the only person in the world for her anymore. Ellie was part of her world now too. Still, she couldn't give in to what she wanted.

'I have to do what's best for Ellie and that is finding a lovely family for her.'

Anna fought the urge to shake her sister. Why did Elsa have to be darn selfless and stubborn? Any argument regarding Elsa's own happiness was clearly not going to work so she'd have to try a different approach.

'I thought we'd already established some time ago that you aren't the best judge of what's best for people.'

This caught Elsa attention as she looked up at Anna.

'Yes, can't you see the pattern here. Every time you think you're very selflessly doing what's best for people, hurting yourself in the process, you hurt the people you're protecting too. Every time you've shut people out you robbed them of something they maybe needed most. When you shut me out all those years ago, you robbed me of my big sister and my best friend. When you ran away from Arendelle after you're coronation, you robbed the country of it's queen and left it for Hans to take. Now you're giving Elly up because you think that's best for her, while you're actually robbing her of the only mother who could truly understand her. She loves you Elsa…'

Anna knew she was making things sound harsher than they might be, but she needed to make her sister understand.

'Do you…. do you really think she loves me?' Elsa whispered.

'Yes, do you remember when you tried to teach her how to thaw that snowman she made? You told her to think of love. Do you know whom she told me she thought of? You, she thought of you Elsa and the snowman thawed. You and I both know that your powers don't lie about your emotions.'

Anna was right, Elsa thought. By giving Ellie up she was just repeating past mistakes. She was hurting someone she loved again.

She smiled to Anna through her tears. Sometimes her sister seemed so much smarter than she would ever be.

'I'm an idiot, aren't I?' She sighed. This time it wasn't to late to stop things though.

'I'm proud of you', whispered Anna. 'Now go tell Ellie!' She smiled as Elsa raced out of the room to find Ellie, already having an idea where she might have gone.

After Ellie had heard that she would be adopted tomorrow she just ran. She didn't know exactly where to but suddenly she had found herself at the meadow where she and Elsa always practiced their powers. Trying to calm down she started to make an ice sculpture of the castle. Soon she was so lost in her work, she didn't hear a person creeping up on her. Suddenly someone grabbed her hands from behind and forced them into two iron cuffs that engulfed her hands. It made her defenceless because her powers weren't strong enough yet to break the iron. The person turned her around making Ellie look directly into the face she hoped never to see again: Greta's. Greta started tugging the chain, dragging Ellie into the forest, back to the orphanage while leaving a trail of ice behind.

Approximately half an hour after Ellie's kidnapping Elsa arrived at the meadow. She was quite surprised not to find Ellie there. She was so sure this was the place Ellie had gone to. Then she saw the half finished sculpture of the castle and the trail of ice leading into the forest. Panic rose inside her chest and ice started to spread from under her feet.

Anna, Kristoff and Sven who had all come after her, found Elsa standing there.

'What happened?' Anna asked.

'Someone took her! I have to help her, I have to go after her!' Elsa panicked.

'I'll come with you', Anna immediately offered.

'No, I need you to take care of Arendelle.'

'Then at least take Kristoff and Sven with you.'

Elsa nodded in agreement, seeing the sense in that.

'What are you waiting for then?' Anna told her.

With that Elsa left with Kristoff and Sven to follow the ice, determined to bring back her little girl.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**A/N Hi guys, the following chapter will be the last chapter of this story. I want to thank you guys for all the fantastic reviews that kept me going. I have to say it felt really weird at first posting my stories because I'd never really written any of my stories down. Enough said, enjoy the last chapter!**

Kristoff had been walking through the forest following the ice trail with Elsa and Sven for almost the entire day now. Darkness was already starting to cross the land. He glanced at Elsa, despite living in the same castle for four years now, he didn't know her that well. She was always so distant with people. The only people she really allowed to come near her were Anna and Ellie.

'We should set up camp somewhere', he said, breaking the silence.

Elsa wanted to tell him no but she saw the sense in what Kristoff was suggesting. It would be madness to keep walking through the night.

'You're right', she sighed.

They both stopped walking and Kristoff started to look around to find wood to build some sort of a shelter for the night. As he was busy gathering wood, he noticed Elsa wasn't doing anything to help him. Sure, she was the queen, but the least she could do was help, Kristoff thought slightly annoyed. When he turned around to face her, he saw her waving her hands elegantly through the air.

'What are you doing?' Kristoff asked.

'Building a shelter', Elsa answered and indeed a small house of ice appeared. 'What are _you_ doing?' she asked Kristoff in return when she looked at him standing there with his arms full of tree branches.

'Never mind…' Kristoff answered but Elsa had already disappeared into the house she had made.

'Are you coming in or not?' Kristoff heard her asking from inside. Smiling, he walked inside as well. It was times like this that Elsa really reminded him of Anna.

They had been sitting in the house together for a few minutes when Elsa saw Kristoff shivering. 'You can build a fire if you want to?' she told him.

'Won't the house thaw then?'

'Nah, my ice doesn't thaw, unless I want it to of course', she answered with a hint of pride in her voice.

Kristoff smiled at that but just when he started the fire it immediately went out again.

'Sorry', Elsa muttered.

'It's okay, I know you're worried about her but we are going to get her back you know,' Kristoff tried to comfort her. It did seem to work because the second time he started the fire it kept burning.

'Thank you', whispered Elsa, 'for coming with me. It must be hard leaving Anna alone like that.'

'Anna will be fine. She's probably planning a coming home party for us already.'

'Yeah, I bet she is…'

Even though Kristoff was denying it right now, Elsa knew he must hate leaving Anna like this. It really was very nice of him to come with her. She was actually quite surprised. After all they hadn't really spoken much in these past four years. It left her wondering why actually. They actually had a lot in common, they both loved ice, they both liked their quiet and they both loved Anna. She made a resolution to become a better sister-in-law, no a better friend, to Kristoff when they got home. With that thought she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Greta had dragged Ellie through the forest for a day and a half now. Contrary to Elsa and Kristoff Greta had not taken the time to stop for the night. That's why it was early in the morning when Greta and Ellie reached the edge of the forest. Ellie could see the familiar building that was the orphanage laying in front of her.

Greta dragged her towards it. The orphans that were playing in the front yard whispered, 'She's back!' Greta shooed them away and dragged Ellie up the stairs to a room that was all too familiar to her, the attic. Pushing her inside Greta closed the door behind the both of them. It was a new door Ellie noticed. It was way thicker than the last one and it had a different lock. Greta came towards her and finally took the handcuffs off.

Immediately the attic covered in ice.

'You can try to freeze this lock all you want. It won't work', Greta laughed at her efforts.

'Just you wait, Elsa will come and save me!' Ellie bit at Greta.

'Yeah, you keep saying that. It's quite pathetic really that you made up some imaginary friend that has the same powers that you do. As if someone would want to be friends with a monster.'

'Elsa is not imaginary!' Ellie was crying now.

'Whatever you say, but it is ridiculous to think that she's coming for you,' Greta scoffed.

Truth was Ellie wasn't so sure Elsa was coming for her either, but she couldn't lose hope. Another thought occurred to Ellie. Why had Greta come to kidnap her?

'Why did you come to get me?' Ellie voiced that thought. 'Why couldn't you just leave me be. Why do you hate me so much?'

'Well, I did promise your mother I'd take care of you,' Greta answered. Greta hadn't really meant to say that but the answer had slipped out.

'My mother?' Ellie asked surprised. Greta had never spoken of her parents before. Just that they'd abandoned her because of her powers.

Now that she had let out this much the girl might as well learn the whole story, Greta thought.

'Yes, your mother, we were best friends once. She was pretty with dark brown hair and rosy cheeks. She was the pretty, outgoing one while all I was, was the ugly shy friend. When we would be at a party all the boys wanted to dance with her. They only danced with me because she asked them to. She got all the attention and she didn't even care.'

A short silence followed.

'Then a new boy moved to our village. His name was Edward. He was the first guy who was genuinely nice to me without her asking him to be. I told your mother all about him, I even introduced them to each other. After weeks I finally mustered up the courage to ask him out. Do you know what he said? He blew me off saying that he had already found his true love in your mother. Not long after that they married. Edward died in a hunting accident a few months later while your mother was pregnant with you. After she gave birth to you she caught an illness. It was slowly consuming her from the inside. When she knew she wouldn't have long anymore, she called me at her bed. She dared to tell me that she had tried to stay away form Edward, but that she couldn't help it. She told me that she wanted me, as her best friend, to take care of you after she died. She made me promise. She dared to saddle me up with a constant reminder of the love I had lost. You turned out just like your mother though. A monster only capable of destroying things!' Greta spat out the last part, her voice full of hate, before leaving Ellie alone in the attic.

Ellie didn't even hear the last part though. The only thing she could think of is that her parents had loved her. Her mother hadn't abandoned her. She had left her with the woman she thought, was her best friend.

If the ice trail led where Elsa thought it would lead, they couldn't be far away. She remembered Ellie mentioning that the orphanage was close to the border of Arendelle and they were nearing that border right now.

'What exactly is the plan when we get there?' Kristoff asked her.

'We're going to do go in and grab Ellie', came the simple reply.

'That's your plan?!' Kristoff said while he couldn't shake the feeling that he had said this before to someone.

While talking they had reached the edge of the forest where they could see the orphanage lying there.

Seeing the orphanage confirmed Elsa's suspicion of who might have taken Ellie. Not wanting to waste any time, she started to march towards the building, Kristoff and Sven hurrying after her.

She came to a halt in front of the building. Looking up she saw a little window covered with frost at the top story of the orphanage. The worry that had consumed her during the trip suddenly turned into anger.

'Maybe you should knock?' Kristoff suggested behind her.

'Maybe she doesn't know how to knock?' he answered in the voice of Sven.

'Of course she knows how to knock!' answered Kristoff but when he looked back at Elsa he saw her move her hands and a gust of wind threw the doors open.

'Okay, maybe she just never has to knock…' He whispered.

'Wait here', Elsa ordered him.

Greta turned around when the doors of her orphanage suddenly were thrown open. In the hallway of the orphanage stood a young woman, probably in her mid-twenties, looking very angry.

'Where's Ellie?' the woman hissed.

Greta just looked at her. It was like looking at an all grown up Ellie. The woman was unbelievingly pretty with platinum blonde hair and ice blue eyes. Greta quickly regained her composure. 'There is no girl called Ellie here', she lied.

'Don't you dare lie to me! I've seen the frost on the window.'

Was it just her or did the temperature just drop? Greta shook that thought away. So this woman knew of Ellie's powers, this made Greta wonder who she was. 'Elsa, everything okay?' a man with messy blonde hair walked into the building as well. Well Greta figured that answered her question as to who the woman was. Wait, _Elsa_, so Ellie hadn't been lying…. But surely she didn't have ice powers as well?

Before she could even finish that last thought properly, Greta felt her feet suddenly getting very cold. When she looked down she saw ice beginning to form around her feet and the lower half of her legs freezing her to the ground.

The woman, Elsa, ran past her and started to climb the stairs, the man following her. She tried to follow them as well but due to the ice around her legs, she couldn't move an inch.

Ellie who had been sitting in her attic making ice figures heard commotion down stairs. It was true that the cold didn't bother her but she still felt the temperature drop. Could it be… could it really be that Elsa was coming for her?

She suddenly heard footsteps running up the stairs before the door to the attic burst open. In the doorway she saw to of the people she loved most, one being Elsa and the other one being Kristoff.

'Elsa?' She whispered still not daring to believe that she had really come for her.

She saw Elsa open her arms wide for her so she didn't waste any time and ran into Elsa's arms. After they had stayed like that for some time both enjoying their hug, Elsa broke the embrace.

'Come on', she said, 'let's go home.'

'Does that mean…' Ellie started to ask.

'Yes, I'm never going to let you go again', Elsa answered softly before Ellie could finish her question.

When the three of them got to the bottom of the stairs they were greeted by the sight of Greta still standing in the spot Elsa had left her in.

'What are you going to do with her?' Kristoff questioned.

'I'm going to leave her here and tell some guards to go fetch her and lock her up for child abuse.'

'But what if she thaws in the meantime?'

'I told you yesterday, my ice doesn't thaw, unless I want it to', Elsa replied smugly.

'That still leaves the matter of who is going to take care of the children,' Kristoff gestured to the orphans who had gathered in the hallway and were currently staring at the three of them.

Elsa thought for a moment before replying, 'Well, I do have a lot of couples staying at the castle who want to adopt a child.'

The children all cheered at this. Though Greta had never been as cruel to them as she had been to Ellie, the prospect of having a family was better than staying in an orphanage.

Kristoff, Ellie and Elsa along with the group of orphans started to make their exit when Greta screamed at them.

'You can't get away with this!'

At that Elsa turned around and replied smugly, 'I'm the Queen of Arendelle. Better yet I am the Snow Queen. I can get away with anything.'

With the group left the building while Elsa smiled realizing this was the first time she felt proud being the Snow Queen.

When they came home the following day Anna had been waiting for them with a welcome home dinner, just as Kristoff had predicted. After diner the orphans had all been giving a room in the castle and would be meeting their adoptive families in the morning.

Kristoff, Anna, Ellie and Elsa were now sitting in the living room of the castle by the fire. That is Elsa was sitting in a chair while Anna and Kristoff had fallen asleep on the couch.

On top of the fireplace a little ice figure of Ellie now joined the other five figures that represented her family. Elsa had made them the day she first met Ellie.

She looked down at Ellie who had fallen asleep on the carpet in front of the fire. The two of them were a family now. They formed their own family within a bigger one. She felt that her bond with Kristoff had gotten stronger too. Anna wasn't the only thing holding them together now that they shared the experience of rescuing Ellie.

She smiled down at Ellie again. She would make a beautiful queen someday, but more importantly she would be a wonderful daughter. She already was actually. She was the daughter Elsa hadn't even dared to wish for two weeks ago. She'd never thought she'd one day have a child that would understand her the way no one else could, but more importantly she never thought that she'd have a child that she couldn't hurt, even if she tried.

With that Elsa lay down on the carpet beside her daughter and drifted off to sleep.

**The end**


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